Inevitably
by xXSilverArrowXx
Summary: After their meeting at the hospital, Sakura finds herself bumping into Sasuke too many times to be coincidental. Apparently, he thinks so too. "...Are you stalking me?" [SasuSaku] Modern AU
1. Chapter 1: The Hospital

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and I never will...Unfortunately.

* * *

It was a hot afternoon and Sakura had just finished all her homework for the day. She grinned to herself, triumphant that she managed to finish all of her schoolwork without any loud distractions: being mainly Naruto and Ino. She flopped down onto her bed, wondering if she should call them over. Even though they were both loud and annoying most of the time, deep down she wouldn't have it any other way. The blond duo made her life more exciting.

"I don't have anything to do… Maybe I _will_ call them," mused Sakura out loud. She sat up and grabbed her pink-cased phone from her desk and dialed Ino's number.

After hearing Ino's voicemail for the fifth time, Sakura frowned. "She better not be partying. We have exams tomorrow!" She then tried calling Naruto only to find herself hearing his voicemail as well. Exasperated, she called a few more times before deciding to leave him a message.

"Naruto. What the hell is going on? First Ino and now you. Answer your phone, dammit!"

Minutes went by and she got no calls. Sakura gave up with a sigh, and decided to take a shower to calm her nerves. _I hope nothing bad happened,_ Sakura thought, biting her lip worriedly. She forced out a small laugh and scoffed at herself. "I'm being stupid. They probably went out and didn't hear my calls. Or they lost their phones, _again._ " She smiled fondly at a memory from not so long ago.

The pinkette threw her phone onto her bed and looked through her chestnut drawers to get some clothes. Finding a clean red T-shirt and some jeans, she tucked them under her arm and walked over to the bathroom and proceeded to take a shower.

Leaving the bathroom fully dressed and hair still wet, Sakura checked her phone and grinned, seeing two missed calls from Ino. She quickly called back, running her hands through her pink strands.

"Heeey, finally! God, you scared me for a bit. Naruto wouldn't answer my calls either and-"

"Sakura!"

Sakura's smile faltered as she was cut off by Ino's panicked tone.

"Ino….? What's wrong?!"

"Sakura, oh my god! Naruto's at the hospital."

Sakura froze, her heart pounding hard against her ribcage. Naruto? At the hospital? That was nothing new. That boy had a gift at making people pissed at him. However, she could hear Ino's sniffles from the phone _and_ _oh my god_. Forcing herself to respond, Sakura asked shakily, "W-what happened?"

"We were headed over to Temari's party a-and there was this truck….," Ino sobbed. "…It came out of nowhere! ….T-then there was glass everywhere a-and…. Oh my god, blood!"

She felt like vomiting. Trembling, Sakura forced herself to calm down. She weakly said, "I'll be there soon."

Sakura stumbled over to the door, flung it wide open and raced downstairs. Grabbing a jacket and clumsily putting on some flip flops, she ignored her parents' questioning stares. Sakura ran to the garage and entered her second-hand red Mercedes, cursing when the car refused to start. After a few more tries, Sakura got the engine to start up and quickly backed her car out from the driveway.

Tears distorted her view of the road as she drove. She furiously wiped them away and bit her lip. "Could this day get any worse?" Just then, a black car cut her off and she cursed. "DAMN YOU!" Sakura yelled hoarsely as she glared at the blond head of the driver. ... _Blond_...? Sakura almost broke down right then and there. "Naruto..."

* * *

Sakura burst into room 407, the smell of disinfectant and anesthetics immediately overwhelming her senses. She scanned the white room panickedly, noting three hospital beds in the room. "Where is he? What happened? Is he okay?"

A nearby nurse immediately made a hushing motion. "Please, there are other patients in the room!"

Before the pinkette could make a retort, a platinum blonde girl emerged from the far corner of the room smiling weakly at her. Without a word, Sakura ran up to her and embraced her tightly. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Ino let out a sharp breath of pain. Sakura, alarmed, instantly let go of her friend.

"Ino? What happened to you?" Sakura asked worriedly. Upon closer inspection, she saw bandages peaking out from under the blonde's blouse.

"Broken ribs," Ino said, then paused, seeing the concern in Sakura's eyes. "Don't worry, forehead. I'll live," she said in a half joking manner. She took Sakura's hand and pulled her over to an occupied bed in the back of the room. "I'm sorry if I worried you too much. Naruto's doing... better." She made a gesture towards the spiky-haired patient in the bed.

Sakura teared up and reached out to stroke Naruto's sun-kissed forehead. He had blood stained bandages wrapped around his head and cuts all over his face. One eye was purple and swelling rather nastily. However, he was breathing evenly.

"Naruto, you baka," Sakura said softly, holding his hand in hers. She turned to Ino and asked, "So.. What happened?"

"This truck crashed into us. The driver was drunk. I was sitting in the back with the beer"- Ino pointedly ignored her friend's frown of disapproval-"So Naruto got most of the impact. H-his head was thrown against the windshield... The doctor said something about mild 'blunt force trauma' and whiplash."

A dark haired nurse who's ID badge read 'Shizune' approached them, smiling sympathetically. "I'm sorry about your friend. He's still unconscious, but other than that he's healing rather well. I'm expecting about a month for a full recovery. Maybe even sooner."

Sakura sighed in relief and took a seat in one of the blue reception chairs nearby the window. Ino sat down next to her as Shizune continued to list Naruto's injuries. When the nurse finished, she smiled at them and said,"Well, I've got to go. I have other patients to attend to, but I'll be checking on your friend every once in a while so I'll see you around."

Sakura and Ino both waved at her and said their thanks as the dark haired nurse left. After a few minutes of silence, Ino turned her pale head towards the pinkette and grinned. "Hey, forehead-"

The blonde was interrupted by a loud growling noise. The duo turned to the source of the noise.

Naruto's stomach was _growling_.

" _R... ramennnn..."_

* * *

The petite pinkette had taken it upon herself to bring food for Naruto everyday after school. The reason being plain and simple: Hospital food was _disgusting._ Sakura would bring some left over tempura, red bean soup, or on some days when she was feeling especially kind, some miso ramen from Ichiraku's. Ino came with her on some occasions, but mostly only to goggle at the "crazy hot" male nurses.

There were two other patients sharing the room with Naruto. One was a plump middle-aged man who seemed always to be sleeping, and the other was a raven haired boy whom she assumed was around her age. The boy's bed was at the other side of the room, and he always had his back turned to them whenever she visited. She had contemplated introducing herself to him, but never got around to it.

One day, Sakura came into the hospital room only to find Naruto fast asleep. She didn't want to wake the energetic blond, so she quietly put the food on his bedside table and looked around the room. The pinkette had brought some fresh flowers and fruit to add color to the drearily plain room in her previous visits and it looked more much inviting now. In the middle of the room the middle-aged man was snoring loudly in bed while the boy was faced towards the wall... as usual. She decided to finally go over and say hi.

She approached his bed. He hadn't moved from his place under the blue linen blankets. She took a deep breath and brightly said, "Hi! I'm Sakura!"

He didn't seem to have heard her. She tried again.

"...Uhm, hello?"

No answer.

"Hello...?"

 _Still_ no answer.

Hesitantly, she poked his hospital gown-clad shoulder.

He didn't twitch.

Sakura's face paled. "Oh my God. What if he's dead?!" she panicked out loud, "Where the hell is a nurse when you need one?!"

Before she could run towards the door, a pale hand whipped out and grasped her wrist tightly. Sakura screamed out in surprise. Another pale hand reached out to cover her mouth as she was jerked, not too gently, downwards. Apple green eyes widened as they met onyx.

"Mmmmpph!"

The ebony-haired teen gave an irritated sigh and reluctantly uncovered her mouth.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Sakura shouted, "YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME."

His lips let out a muttered "...Annoying..."

Her eyebrows twitched. " _What_ did you say?!"

He gave her a nonchalant look. The tips of her ears turned red. She was _really_ peeved now. "Y-you arrogant jerk!"

Her only response from him was a blank stare.

This pissed her off more. "Are you deaf or something?" she hissed.

Again, no reaction from him whatsoever. It was like talking to a brick wall! He was doing this on purpose, she bet her life on it.

If this rude boy refused to be civil, then she wouldn't waste any more of her time on him. She flipped her pastel locks over her shoulder and flounced towards the door. Before she opened the door to leave, she glared over her shoulder at him. The douche was actually _smirking_ at her. The nerve! Sakura Haruno was not going to let this-this... _jerk_ have the satisfaction of seeing her blow up. Sakura gave a small "humph!" and threw the door open and slammed it shut. She was met with a small group of female nurses who had huddled together outside the door, eavesdropping.

A charcoal-haired woman who Sakura recognized as Shizune came forward, the nurse giving her an innocent smile.

"I see you've met Sasuke-San," Shizune said cheerfully. A little _too_ cheerfully for Sakura's taste.

The pinkette made her way to the elevator, which wasn't too much of a far walk from Naruto's room. As the elevator doors opened she glanced at the nurses who had yet to disperse. They were whispering and giggling. Rolling her eyes, Sakura entered the empty elevator. As the doors slid closed, she couldn't help but replay her banter with the dark-haired patient.

* * *

A/N: My very first story, I hope you guys enjoy! Please R&R :)

P.S. I want to thank my beta, Iron Rose Writer. You're amazing.


	2. Chapter 2: Sweets and Tomatoes

Thanks for the positive feedback guys! Here's chapter two, as promised.

 **Disclaimer:** Yeah, I still don't own Naruto.

* * *

For the next three days Sakura managed to avoid visiting Naruto at the hospital. Every time she considered going, she would replay the little episode she had with 'Sasuke-San' and instantly change her mind. She knew she was being stubborn, but _still._

The pinkette was currently at the mall with Ino, arguing over whether or not the blonde should buy yet _another_ pair of shoes. Every time she went to Ino's house, there seemed to always be some new article of clothing in the blonde's closet.

"Forehead. I have to get these! They're for a limited time only, for god's sake! And you know how much they'd match my new bag," Ino whined.

Sakura frowned and opened her mouth to reply but before she could say anything, Ino shoved the shoes to Sakura's face. "Look at them," the platinum blonde demanded," Just look at them, Sakura! I _need_ this pair."

Sakura snatched the shoes from Ino's grip and put them back on the shelf, ignoring her best friend's shriek of protest. Before she could drag Ino outside of the shop, her phone started ringing. After rummaging through her white purse, the pinkette found her phone. The screen flashed Naruto's name and Sakura answered it reluctantly. The blond had been calling a lot, demanding to know why she had stopped visiting him.

"Sakura-chaaaaan. You haven't visited me in three days!," the loud blond cried from the phone. Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, feeling slightly guilty.

"I've been busy, Naruto," She said, which wasn't entirely a lie. "Besides, Hinata's been visiting you." Hinata was one of Sakura's close friends who was also Naruto's new girlfriend. Sakura still couldn't believe the dense blond _finally_ managed to ask the shy girl out; Hinata had had a crush on him since Freshmen year at high school.

"But I miss you! And Hinata's with her family today. There's nobody to talk to!" Sakura winced at his shrill voice. She heard a muffled shout from the phone and a pause from the blond. "Well, there's Teme, but he doesn't count," Naruto said, as an afterthought.

 _"Teme?",_ She thought, already suspecting who the person was. From the phone, Naruto continued to whine and complain. Sick of receiving his phone calls every other hour, Sakura sighed out loud and cut Naruto off.

"Fine. I'll visit you, but I swear, if you keep yelling like that I'm going to give you a whole new injury, got it?" She hissed at her phone. Sakura almost instantly regretted her decision when Naruto gave an excited shout of "Dattebayo!" and almost pierced her ear drums.

Sighing, she turned off her phone and returned it to her purse. Sakura then turned around to see Ino headed towards the cash register with a _two_ different pair of shoes in tow, totally forgetting about the previous pair she had insisted on needing. Rolling her bottle green eyes, Sakura laughed and followed the blonde. Broken ribs or not, Ino was a shopaholic as always.

* * *

Sakura stepped out of the elevator and made her way down the hospital hall, her red sneakers shuffling against the white tiled floor. Ino had ditched her to hang out with her unofficial boyfriend, Shikamaru, leaving Sakura to visit Naruto alone.

As room 407 came into view, a nurse clad in bright magenta exited the door, muttering angrily to herself. The nurse recognized Sakura and exclaimed, "Thank goodness! You. They're all yours."

Sakura mentally sweatdropped at this and watched the petite nurse scurry away. Facing the wooden door, she peeked through the small window and almost smacked herself at the scene. Naruto was out of his bed and had his blond head out of the window, seemingly yelling at the pedestrians below. The raven-haired patient, Sasuke, was swiftly approaching him with a hospital pillow in his clutch, his onyx eyes glittering dangerously. There were blankets and pillows strewed all over the room.

Before Sasuke could kill the blond, who had yet to notice him, with the white pillow, Sakura entered the room and slammed the door shut. Both boys froze and whipped their heads in her direction. Sakura put her hands to her hips and glared at both of them. "What the hell is this?!"

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head while Sasuke crossed his arms and refused to meet her gaze.

Sakura sighed at the silence and gave up on getting a proper explanation. She walked across the room and closed the window. Turning back towards them and giving them pointed stares, she pointed at the blankets and pillows scattered on the floor.

Naruto smiled at her sheepishly and dropped down onto his knees and started picking up the scattered bed coverings, while Sakura headed over to the nearest hospital bed and started fixing it up, with the blankets and pillows Naruto tossed to her. She suddenly realized that there was no sign of the middle-aged patient and concluded that he must've been discharged during her three day absence.

Her train of thought was interrupted when Naruto tossed a pillow at the raven-haired boy, landing...smack on his face. The room became quiet as the pillow fell on the tiled floor, revealing Sasuke's cold eyes and clenched jaw. Nobody spoke. Then the silence was broken by Naruto beginning to laugh.

"DID YOU SEE HIS FACE?" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at Sasuke.

Appalled, Sakura exclaimed, "Naruto!"

The said blonde either didn't hear her or chose not to respond. He was still laughing at the Sasuke's earlier expression.

The raven-haired boy, on the other hand, was _not_ amused. He continued to stare at Naruto, bloody murder in his eyes.

"Baka!" Sakura scolded, "You can't just throw things at people." However, her lips twitched upwards as she replayed the look on Sasuke's face right before the pillow landed on him. _Serves him right_ , She thought, smirking to herself.

Sasuke twitched. He was about to launch himself at the blond idiot before he locked eyes with the pinkette, who was glaring straight at him. Sakura more or less knew what was going on inside his mind–she recalled the many times Naruto had pissed _her_ off. She wasn't going to let him do anything to the blond, especially when she felt that the pillow had done no harm. He was way too overdramatic for his own good. Sasuke, sensing her threat, abruptly broke eye contact with her and turned around towards his bed. _Fine, let him mope,_ Sakura thought.

She turned around and continued straightening the room when she heard the raven-haired boy mutter, "Dobe..."

The pinkette instantly braced herself for more yelling. Naruto, hearing what he said, jumped up with his fists curled and yelled out, "What did you call me, Teme?!" She pitied the nurses who had to handle these two.

* * *

Resuming her regular visits to the hospital, Sakura became familiar with the how her visits would turn out. If Naruto was awake during her visits, a lot of yelling and noise was expected. In fact, ever since she met him, Naruto and noise had always come together and she had learned to grow accustomed to it. However, now with _Sasuke_ in the picture, Naruto was even noisier than normal. She guiltily found herself hoping to finding Naruto asleep when she visited.

The first few times the blonde _had_ been asleep, Sasuke didn't acknowledge her much. In return, she did the same to him. Because of this, she had made it a habit to bring books with her. Sometimes they were thick Biology books as she planned to take a Pre-Med program later on, or fictional books that were almost as thick. She decided that yes, Sasuke was an ass, but he wasn't _totally_ unbearable. She was kind of used to his attitude by now.

Today, when she had arrived, she was glad to find Naruto fast asleep. She had a long day and wanted some peace and quiet. The pinkette dragged a chair in her usual spot; right next to the middle window of the room. Looking through her mint-colored tote bag, she fished out her latest fictional book and a container filled with apple slices. She contemplated on offering some to the Sasuke who was currently sprawled on his bed, staring mindlessly at the ceiling.

"Hey. Do you want some apple slices?" She asked him reluctantly. The ivory-skinned patient slowly turned his head towards her and her outstretched hand, which was holding onto the apple-filled container. He grunted at her offer and resumed his original position.

Sakura huffed and turned around. If he didn't want her apples, he wouldn't get her apples. "Suit yourself. More for me then." She sat down on the blue chair and opened her book to one of its many dog-eared pages. After several minutes of silence, excluding the sounds of pages turning, Sasuke slowly got up from his bed and walked towards her. Only when he was standing behind her did Sakura realize that he had gotten up.

She put her book down and arched a slender pink eyebrow at him. He gave her a blank stare and hesitantly reached out his arm towards the apples. Sakura grinned as he took a slice and brought it to his lips. He took a small bite and chewed quietly and carefully, analyzing the taste.

 _He chews like a princess,_ Sakura laughed to herself, _s_ _o prissy._ She watched him chew, waiting for him to finish.

"Apples are sweet," He said plainly, after swallowing.

Sakura shot him a questioning glance. "Yeah, I guess. So?"

He sighed, as if it were the simplest thing in the world and explained, "I don't like sweet things."

"Oh, okay," The pinkette said, nodding. Then his words registered in her mind and she did a double take. "Wait, what?! You can't possibly mean that."

Sasuke scowled. "I don't like sweet things," He repeated firmly.

He now had her complete and undivided attention. Sakura had a huge sweet tooth and refused to believe that someone could actually dislike sweets. "C'mon. There _has_ to be something sweet you like! Cake? Ice-cream? Chocolate, then? Donuts? What about pie? _Everyone_ loves pie," she persisted.

He gave her a blank stare.

Sakura slumped against her chair and ran her hands through her short pastel locks. "You are so weird. Oh, my gosh. Wow."

He rolled his eyes and walked back to his bed. Sakura gave him a blank stare and said nothing. This went on for the next few minutes, making him slightly uncomfortable. He lifted a charcoal eyebrow at her and said, "...I like tomatoes."

She gaped widely at him. "Tomatoes?" She echoed, at a loss for what to say.

For some reason, her baffled expression annoyed him immensely. "Yes, tomatoes," Sasuke snapped. "And close your mouth, you'll catch flies," He added.

Flushing pink, Sakura snapped her mouth closed and ignored his comment. _"Tomatoes_ ," _S_ he repeated, dazed.

* * *

A/N: Reviews are appreciated!^^


	3. Chapter 3: Discharged

A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long! I've been busy with school and the holidays these past two months. Also, I got a major writer's block. Anyways, here's Chapter 3.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its associated characters.

* * *

A few days later, Sakura woke up with a start. In her sleep-induced state, she sleepily wondered what the _hell_ was disturbing her from her very much needed sleep, before her eyes rested on the source of the disturbance. There on her bedside table, sitting oh so innocently, was her digital alarm. Which was still... making noise. Too much noise. And it was only five fucking thirty in the morning. The pinkette immediately slammed her fist upon the snooze button and sank back into her warm blanket. That was her first mistake.

Fifteen minutes later, bottle green eyes snapped open. Sakura slowly sat up and stared murderously at the alarm clock, which was still ringing loudly. Gritting her teeth, the pinkette brought her curled fist down onto the off button so hard that the surface of the plastic shattered from under her hand. In the back of her mind she wearily thought, _Damn. There goes another one._ Shrugging it off, she snuggled back into bed.

Wait. Something felt off. With an uneasy feeling, Sakura reluctantly sat back up. Her eyes scanned the room before stopping on the calendar hanging on her door. _Shit._

Jolting up, she tore the blanket off her body and jumped off her bed. She ran to her bathroom and after fumbling with the toothpaste, began to furiously brush her teeth. Sakura totally forgot about the early chemistry class today. The class started at 6:15 AM and it took fifteen to twenty minutes to get to the college. She was so screwed.

She rummaged through her desk for her chemistry books and notebook, while attempting to pull on her jeans. As soon as she finished stuffing the chemistry material into her backpack, the pinkette pulled down a yellow long-sleeve over her pink locks, following it up with a baggy blue hoodie . After a quick glance at her appearance on the mirror, she grabbed her keys, took her olive green canvas backpack and bounded downstairs.

As Sakura pulled back from the driveway, she made a mental note to buy a new alarm clock on her way home. A _durable_ alarm clock. This was the sixth alarm clock this semester, and she was almost past her budget.

Shaking her head, the pinkette focused on the road only to sigh in defeat. It looked like there was going to be traffic. She could only hope Ino had attended just this one time. Sakura really needed the notes on the stuff she knew she would miss out on, especially since she hadn't attended the last class. Finals was coming up and she _needed_ good grades if she wanted any hope of passing the entrance exam on the Konoha Pre-med program.

* * *

Ino failed her. Honestly, what was she thinking? Ino would _never_ attend a weekend class. Lucky for her, Shikamaru was there. Which was actually really surprising. The dude was lazy as he was smart. And he was a freaking genius in _everything_ ; everyone knew that.

What was even more surprising was that he actually saved a seat for _her_ , right next to him. When she had sat down, he must've seen the look of astonishment on her face because he gave her a shrug and languidly slid a black notebook to her. Upon opening it, Sakura realized they were the notes he had taken for this class _and_ the one she had missed.

"But don't you need these?" asked Sakura, wide eyed.

In response, he gave her a bored look and answered, "No." Sighing at the disbelief on the pinkette's face, he reluctantly said,"Look, Sakura. Just take it. It's not a big deal."

Watching his face carefully, Sakura hesitantly took the notebook and opened it up to the last page he had written on. She grinned sheepishly at him. "Thanks, Shikamaru. You saved my ass." He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, yeah."

Sakura turned back to listen to their teacher's lecture, jotting down notes whenever something especially important was said or writing down additional thoughts of her own about the subject. Contrast to Sakura's attentive listening and dutiful note-taking, Shikamaru had his head buried in his arms looking suspiciously like he had fallen asleep.

Sakura rolled her eyes at this. Sometimes, she found it crazy how opposite he and Ino were. But then again, that very fact probably had something to do with how well they got along, even though it rarely looked that way. She smiled to herself as she thought about them; she wondered when they would finally become official.

Class dragged by and finally ended thirty minutes later. Rubbing the back of her sore neck, Sakura stood up and started packing her belongings in her backpack. After she finished, she joined Shikamaru in exiting to the hallway. As the chem-students exited the front doors, Sakura turned to Shikamaru and said goodbye, which he responded to with a half-wave before slouching over in the direction of his car.

Turning in the direction of her own car, Sakura threw her backpack in the passenger's seat, before driving off to the nearest café she could find. _God, I could use some good java right about now,_ Sakura thought to herself, before being interrupted by her stomach's loud growl. _Mmm_ , _maybe some breakfast too if I have enough money._ Sakura then suddenly remembered her broken alarm clock and nearly empty wallet. Groaning, she regretfully passed by her favorite café and changed course to the direction of home.

Recalling her past failed cooking attempts, the pinkette flinched and thought, _Coffee and stale cereal it is then_ _..._

* * *

Five hours later of studying and procrastination, Sakura found herself sprawled on the living room couch surrounded by crumpled notebook papers strewn on the carpeted floor. She was ready to cry of boredom when her phone started vibrating on top of the walnut coffee table. Sitting up and grabbing her phone eagerly, she saw a text notification coming from Naruto. Unlocking her phone, she read the blond's text messages, smiling at his typos.

 _From_ _Naruto:_ _Heeyyy, sakura chan! xxx Come visit me! :D I'm at home tho cuz I finally got dis botched this mourning ^.^_

 _From Naruto:_ _*discharged_

 _From Naruto:_ _**morning D:_

Giggling and texting back a quick "Okay", Sakura tossed her phone on the couch and yawned. She stood up from the walnut-colored sofa and stretched before grabbing her keys from the table. Grabbing her phone and shoving it into her back pocket, she swiped an energy drink from the fridge and headed out of the front door. Instead of walking to her car, she strode towards the left sidewalk of their driveway. Naruto lived fairly close; only a few dozen blocks away from the corner of Sakura's neighborhood. Why Naruto just didn't drop by at her house, the pinkette didn't know.

As she walked down the street, Sakura's mind trailed to Sasuke. Over the course of this past week, she had only visited the hospital three times to Naruto's disappointment. She hadn't seen both guys in four days. Now that Naruto had been discharged, she wondered if that meant she wouldn't be seeing Sasuke again. Sakura shook her head, clearing the thoughts. _Why do I care? It's actually a good thing I won't see the jerk again. _However, contrary to what she told herself, her stomach sank in dismay at the thought of never seeing the raven-haired patient again.

Before she knew it, Sakura was in front of Naruto's two story house. Unlike Naruto and his bright personality, the house was gray, plain, and seemed perfectly normal. The grass was overgrown but the yard was clean nonetheless. His parents died in an accident a long time ago so Naruto lived with his godfather, Kakashi. Because the man worked a lot overseas, Naruto usually had the house to himself.

Sakura knocked on the wooden door and stepped back, waiting. From the inside of the house she could hear heavy footfalls and a muffled shout of "Coming!". Not soon after, the door opened to reveal a grinning Naruto who greeted her with a cheery, "Hey, Sakura-chan!"

Feeling her own face break into a grin, she laughed and pushed him aside. Naruto closed the door and walked beside her, retaliating by shoving his shoulder against her. Naruto flashed her a toothy smile and Sakura couldn't help but reach out her arm to ruffle his blond hair fondly, making it messier than ever. As they walked side by side down the hallway Sakura realized how odd it was not to see Naruto in a plain white hospital gown after seeing him wear it for so long. He was now wearing his signature black and orange tracksuit top over a black T-shirt and some worn out jeans. Sakura couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in distaste at Naruto's poor clothing choices. Maybe it would've been alright if his tracksuit top wasn't so _bright._

They walked into the living room, but at the sight of a raven-haired man sitting down stiffly on the couch, Sakura froze. She blinked twice to make sure it wasn't her imagination. Sure enough, it was none other than Sasuke, who seemed as equally surprised to see her judging by the furrow of his eyebrows.

Whipping her head to look at Naruto, who was grinning at the interaction, Sakura demanded, "What is _he_ doing here?!"

From the couch, Sasuke shot the pinkette a cold glare. Dryly, he said sarcastically, "Thanks for the warm welcome." Sakura took her eyes off of Naruto to give him her own glare before deciding to ignore him and refocus on questioning Naruto.

Naruto gave her a look of confusion before replying, "He left the medicine list Shizune gave him at the hospital so he came to pick it up here because I brought it home with me."

Slightly puzzled, Sakura trailed, "But how did..." Sakura paused, quickly catching on. "Wait. He...got discharged?" Blatantly ignoring the muttered, "No shit, Sherlock" that came from the direction of the couch, Sakura folded her arms at Naruto and questioned, "When?"

At this, Naruto grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Sakura's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Something was up. She raised a pink eyebrow at the blond, beckoning him to continue. Laughing nervously, Naruto slowly said, "Uhm... Yesterday."

* * *

Sakura was seated uncomfortably in between Naruto and Sasuke on the gray couch. The latter of the two had moved farther away than necessary when she had been forced to sit down next to him while Naruto grinned obliviously, insisting both of them to stay for a while longer to keep him company until Kakashi returned.

The flat screen TV across the room was loudly screening some sort of action thriller, while at the same time the faded blue radio near the window played Christmas songs. However distracting the combined noises were, Sakura's attention were steely focused on a half-eaten sandwich that had somehow found its way under a floor lamp. _That's probably what the smell is_ , thought Sakura, feeling queasy.

Trying to shake the image of the forgotten moldy sandwich from her head, her mind replayed Naruto's words from a few minute's earlier. From what she heard and what she knew about Naruto, she figured out on her own what had probably happened. Naruto, with his supernatural knack of healing rapidly, had stayed longer than mandatory because of Sasuke. Even for her big-hearted best friend, this seemed over the top. Naruto would never willingly stay longer than required at a hospital; he _loathed_ hospitals. She supposed his hatred for hospitals related to his parents' death. Naruto must've really liked Sasuke to go that far for him.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, Naruto clapped his hands together, exclaiming, "So! What do you guys want to do?" He looked at both of them eagerly, waiting for their replies.

"Leave," Sakura and Sasuke said simultaneously, before frowning at each other. Sasuke folded his arms and looked away while Sakura rolled her apple green eyes at his behavior.

The blond laughed awkwardly at this, breaking the silence once more with another attempt at making a conversation. "So my godfather, Kakashi, that guy who visited me earlier this week, remember Sasuke? Well anyways, he told me this really funny joke. Want to hear it?" At Sakura's skeptical look and Sasuke's sigh, he continued, "Okay! So this guy is walking down the street, right? Then..."

As soon as he finished telling his "joke", he was met by an orange couch pillow to the face. Sakura had stood up, her face bright pink and horrified. Still sitting on the couch, Sasuke had froze, the tips of his ears turning a dark red.

"Naruto! That is _sick_! _Ew!"_ she exclaimed, her fists curled up. "Oh, my God. I'm leaving. See you tomorrow." Ignoring Naruto's protests, she walked out of the living room with a wave. _My poor innocent mind. Damn you, Kakashi._

She was already halfway accross the yard when she heard the front door open and close. Turning around, she made eye contact with Sasuke before looking away. Sakura walked down the sidewalk and stopped, realizing Sasuke was still walking behind her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she was about to turn around to glare at him when he suddenly walked past her, hands in his jean pockets.

Fast-walking to catch up to him, she blurted out, "Why are you following me?"

He instantly stopped and turned around to face her. Giving her a blank stare, he replied, "My apartment is this way. Don't be stuck up." He then turned around and continued walking.

Sakura flushed pink, and resumed walking, only slightly behind the raven-haired boy. Biting back a retort, Sakura mumbled a half-hearted apology. Sasuke gave her a single glance in reply before fumbling with his phone and putting on some earphones. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes before Sakura decided to try talking to him.

Hesitating, she tapped his shoulder. Sasuke took off one of his earphones and turned around to look at her, a single eyebrow raised. Sakura paused before slowly asking, "What are you listening to?"

He looked at her weirdly, contemplating on what to say before replying, "...None of your business." He then put back his earphone as he turned away, leaving a fuming pinkette behind him.

Sakura grit her teeth and forced herself to take a deep breath in an effort to compose herself. She then marched up to Sasuke, tugging on his shirt hard which definitely got his attention. "I'm just trying to make a decent conversation with you for once. Can't you at least _pretend_ to make an effort?" she demanded in exasperation, her green orbs darkening.

She watched in slight satisfaction as Sasuke opened his mouth before closing it again, momentarily caught off guard. Regaining his composure, he then looked at her wordlessly, his face not betraying any emotion. With a frustrated sigh, Sakura turned away from him in defeat, feeling slightly embarrassed at her forward actions. She was about to cross the street to walk the rest of the way on the other sidewalk when he spoke, stopping her in her tracks. "Let's go somewhere then."

Sakura reluctantly turned around to look at him. "Huh?"

Ignoring her gaze, Sasuke continued, "There's a japanese café around the corner."

Still slightly dumbfounded, the pinkette blinked rapidly. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sasuke scowled at her. "Shut up. Do you want to go or not?"

Feeling her face break into a wide smile, she jogged over to his side, grinning broadly at him to his discomfort. They walked side by side in an awkward silence for moment before Sasuke's voice broke the quiet. "Sakura. Stop that." At her puzzled face, he continued, annoyed, "Stop smiling. It's annoying."

She glared at him before turning her head away. However, she bowed her head slightly so that some pink locks covered part of her face to hide her smile. He called her by her name. During their short conversations at the hospital, he rarely ever addressed her by her name.

Peering at him from behind the curtain of bubblegum-pink strands, she thought to herself that maybe he really wasn't _all_ that bad.

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A/N: Hope you guys liked it. Feel free to leave a review!


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